Volume V Part 60 (1/2)
912
SIR JOHN PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[287-1]
_To John Paston, Esquyer._
[Sidenote: 1477 / APRIL 14]
Ryght worshypfull and hertely belovyd brother, I recomaunde me to yow, letyng yow weete, that as by Pyrse Moody, when he was heer, I hadde no leyser to sende answer in wryghtyng to yow, and to my cosyne Gurnaye, off yowr letteris; b.u.t.t ffor a conclusion ye shalle ffynde me to yow as kynde as I maye be, my conciense and worshyp savyd, whiche, when I speke with yow and them, ye bothe shall weell undrestande. And I praye G.o.d sende yow as goode speede in that mater as I wolde ye hadde, and as I hope ye shall have er thys letter come to yow; and I praye G.o.d sende yow yssywe betwyne yow, that maye be as honorable as ever was any off your ancestris and theris, wheroff I wolde be as gladde in maner as off myn owne. Wherffor I praye yow sende me worde how ye doo, and iff G.o.dde ffortune me to doo weell, and be off any power, I woll be to Sir Thomas Brewse, and my lady hys wyffe, a verry sone in lawe ffor yowr sake, and take them as ye doo, and doo ffor them as iff I weer in case like with them as ye bee. No moor, but Jesus have yow in kepyng.
Wretyn at Caleys, the xiiij. daye off Aprill, anno E. iiij. xvij^{o}.
As ffor tydyngs her, the Frenshe Kynge hathe gothen many off the towns off the Duk of Burgoyne, as Seynt Quyntyns, Abevyle, Motrell; and now off late he hathe goten Betoyne and Hedynge with the castell ther, whyche is one off the ryallest castells off the worlde; and on Sonday at evyn the Ameralle off Fraunce leyde seege at Boloyne; and thys daye it is seyde, that the Frenshe Kynge shalle come thyddr; and thys nyght it is seyde, that ther was a vysion seyne abowte the walls of Boloyne, as it hadde ben a woman with a mervylowse lyght; men deme that Owr Lady ther will shewe hyrselff a lover to that towne. G.o.d fforfende that it weer Frenshe, it weer worthe xl.m^l._li._ [40,000] that it wer Englyshe.
J. PASTON, K.
[Footnote 287-1: [From Fenn, ii. 244.]]
913
MARGARET PASTON TO DAME ELIZABETH BREWS[288-1]
_To the ryght wurchypfull and my verry good [lady and cosyn, Dame Elyzabet][288-2] Brews._
[Sidenote: 1477 / JUNE 11]
Ryght wurchepful and my cheff lady and cosyn, as hertly as I can, I recomaunde me to yow. Madam, lyeketh yow to undyrstand that the cheff cause of my wrytyng to yow at thys season ys thys: I wot well yt ys not unremembred with yow the large comunycacyon that dyvers tymes hathe ben had towchyng the maryage of my cosyn Margery, yowyr dowghter, and my son John; of whyche I have ben as glad, and now late wardes as sory, as evyr I was for eny maryage in myn lyve. And wher or in whom the defawte of the breche ys, I can have no perfyte knowlage; but, madam, yf yt be in me or eny of myn, I prey yow a.s.sygne a day when my cosyn yowyr husbond and ye thynk to be at Norwych to wardes Salle, and I wyll com theder to yow; and I thynk or ye and I departe, that the defawte schall be knowe where yt ys, and also that, with yowyr advyse and helpe and myn to gedyrs, we schall take some wey that yt schal not breke; for yf yt dyd, yt wer non honoure to neyther partyes, and in cheff to them in whom the defawte ys, consyderyng that it ys so ferre spokun.
And, madam, I prey yow that I may have perfyte knowlage be my son Yelverton,[288-3] berar here of, when thys metyng schall be, yf ye thynk it expedyent, and the soner the better, in eschewyng of worsse; for, madam, I know well, yf yt be not concludyd in ryght schort tyme, that as for my son he entendyth to doo ryght well by my cosyn Margery, and not so well by hym sylf, and that schuld be to me, nor I trust to yow no gret plesur, yf yt so fortunyd, as G.o.d deffend, Whom I beseche to send yow your levest desyers.
Madam, I besech yow that I may be recomawndyd by this bylle to my cosyn yowr husbond, and to my cosyn Margery, to whom I supposyd to have gevyn an othyr name or thys tyme.
Wretyn at Mawteby, on Seynt Barnaby is Day.
By your,
MARGARET PASTON.
[Footnote 288-1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] This is another letter relative to the negotiations for the marriage of John Paston and Margery Brews, which took place in 1477.]
[Footnote 288-2: The words bracketed are indistinct, but we follow Fenn's reading.]
[Footnote 288-3: William Yelverton, grandson of Judge Yelverton, now married to Anne Paston, one of Margaret's daughters.]
914
SIR JOHN PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[289-1]
_To John Paston, Esquyer._